Yet another DMCA abuse

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Started by Raduprv March 24, 2006 09:07 PM

53 comments, last by Nathan Baum 18 years, 1 month ago

1,135

March 25, 2006 04:08 AM

Quote:Original post by Raduprv
Quote:the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;

So being commercial is just a subsection of the first subsection. It is the purpose that matters.

You either can't read, or are being deliberately idiotic.

Being commercial *is* the purpose. That's the whole point of the clarification. It is instructing the courts to take special note as to whether it is being used towards commercial ends. So again, if a work being for commercial purposes has no bearing on a fair use case ["Fair use has nothing to do wether something is commercial or not."], then why the explicit mentioning of commercial purposes right in the act? Of all the purposes a derivative work can be made for, why did commercial versus non-profit educational get singled out if the courts aren't even supposed to consider them in their decisions?

Quote:Original post by Raduprv
Quote:Section 107 contains a list of the various purposes for which the reproduction of a particular work may be considered “fair,” such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Section 107 also sets out four factors to be considered in determining whether or not a particular use is fair

In this particular case, the purpose of that book is educational, teaching you stuff about WoW. Ktnxbye!

And when I sell bootleg movies, I'm teaching people about black market economies.

CM

Conner McCloud

1,135

March 25, 2006 04:13 AM

Quote:Original post by Extrarius
Maybe it actually has nothing to do with copyright law, but rather trademark infringement..? I believe US law requires companies to aggressively defend their trademarks to keep them. I don't see a link to the auction, but if the guy is trying to sell something titled something like "World of Warcraft Guide to __" without (and maybe even with) noting that "World of Warcraft" is trademark by blizzard, they'd be required to take legal action (starting with a cease and desist).

He's being sued for both. The name of the book is "The Ultimate World of Warcraft Guide." That is, realisitically, the more damning of the two charges. Which is why it is being overlooked.

CM

_goat

804

March 25, 2006 05:26 AM

Quote:Original post by Raduprv
Many websites that host collections of screenshots are also commercial (they make money from banners).

Keep in mind most companies will view that as "free" advertisement and waive it's use.

[ search: google ][ programming: msdn | boost | opengl ][ languages: nihongo ]

jbadams

26,386

March 25, 2006 06:09 AM

Quote:Original post by Raduprv
Anyway, from what I've read on a website about fair use, it is also an issue on how much of someone's work you are using. If it is very little, and having it there isn't critical for your work, then it is fair use.

Common misbelief, but one that Oluseyi's quote from the U.S Copyright Office already covers. If I may quote that again and add my own emphasis:

Quote:Original post by Oluseyi
From U.S. Copyright Office - Fair Use:
Quote:The distinction between "fair use" and infringement may be unclear and not easily defined. There is no specific number of words, lines, or notes that may safely be taken without permission. Acknowledging the source of the copyrighted material does not substitute for obtaining permission.

The amount of material used is completely irrelevant, and always has been. To provide an example, a court ruled against the reproduction of just 300 words from Gerald Ford's memoirs (by Time IIRC). Although that's a very small sample, the 300 words chosen were probably the most important content, and the purposes of the reproduction were ruled not covered by Fair Use. I'm sure you could find out more specifics about that if you felt like looking.

- Jason Astle-Adams

haro

502

March 25, 2006 06:22 AM

Quote:Original post by Scet
What if you where selling the "Eternal Lands Offical Guide" and had a real publisher and then some guy just sold some guide online for half the price? Would you like that?

Erm.. isn't that kind of the purest embodiment of capitalism?

bjle

322

March 25, 2006 08:57 AM

Quote:The suit seeks three major forms of relief: monetary compensation to cover, among other things, profits lost from the halted sales ...

The jerk was probably just waiting to get shut down so he could sue for millions. I'd have a little more sympathy if he were just suing for the latter two reasons.

Conner McCloud

1,135

March 25, 2006 11:57 AM

Quote:Original post by haro
Erm.. isn't that kind of the purest embodiment of capitalism?

Yeah. That's why IP laws were created, in order to provide a runaround of pure capitalism in favor of public information.

Kazgoroth: As much as I hate to disagree with somebody telling Raduprv he's wrong, that isn't entirely accurate. If the original work is a sufficiently small part of the new work, then it can be allowed. This is part of how movies get away with having Time Magazines laying around. So it isn't completely irrelivent, although it is also not applicable here.

CM

LessBread

1,415

March 25, 2006 12:19 PM

Quote:Original post by Scet
Quote:Original post by Oluseyi
but we're discussing the law here, not our opinions.

Clearly you've never been in the Lounge before...

[lol] Have you looked at who is the moderator of the lounge?

"I thought what I'd do was, I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes." - the Laughing Man

Raduprv

997

Author

March 25, 2006 12:34 PM

Quote:Original post by Conner McCloud
You either can't read, or are being deliberately idiotic.
Being commercial *is* the purpose. That's the whole point of the clarification. It is instructing the courts to take special note as to whether it is being used towards commercial ends.

No, it is instructing the courts to take special note on how it is used, such as for teaching, as a parody, or as a ripoff. And the commercial use is but a factor in the decision. The key word there is including

Quote:
And when I sell bootleg movies, I'm teaching people about black market economies.

So you think that writting a book instructing people and teaching them how to play a game is equivalent with selling bootleg movies?

Eternal Lands (free, Open Source MMORPG)

LessBread

1,415

March 25, 2006 12:36 PM

Quote:Original post by Oberon_Command
What I'm trying to say is that parodies don't use the actual object of copyright (at least in most cases), they invent their own "verson" of the object, and thus avoid the issue altogether.

Maybe that's true for SpaceBalls, but it doesn't hold for every parody movie. Didn't "Scary Movie" use the "Scream" mask? Didn't the sequel steal from "The Ring"? And haven't they all stolen from "Poltergeist"? And what about this "Date Movie" that I've seen the ads for - that's a rip off of other movies too.

Quote:Original post by Conner McCloud
And when I sell bootleg movies, I'm teaching people about black market economies.

That's a false analogy. What your customers might learn about the black market is secondary to your purpose and has little to no bearing on whether they refer you to their friends. In the case at hand, if the information found in the WoW guide is inferior, people that paid for it won't likely refer it to their friends.

"I thought what I'd do was, I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes." - the Laughing Man

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